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The Birth of Joseph II
Joseph II was born in Vienna, Austria. Joseph was initially born and baptized with the name Joseph Benedict Augustus Johann Anton Michael Adam. His mother was Maria Theresa, who he eventually became co- regent with when his father, Francis Stephen, perished. Joseph grew up knowing that he would one day be the ruler of Austria. -
Joseph rules alongside Maria Theresa
Joseph became Joseph II after his father died on August 18, 1765. He took on foreign matters and tried to make reforms happen, but his mother didn’t approve of them at all. She would often dismiss his attempts to try to change something and people did not go to him for the conduct of foreign matters. Maria Theresa maintained control of the empire for many years forward. -
Joseph becomes Absolute Ruler
Maria Theresa perished in 1780. Joseph became the absolute and sole ruler of the Habsburg Kingdom. He then began to do many things that he wasn’t able to do alongside ruling with his mother. He enacted many reforms that his mother had refused even to consider. These changes included abolishing serfdom, ending press censorship and limiting the power of the Catholic Church. -
Patent of Tolerance
Joseph decided to give importance to the minority religions. Unlike his mother, he had religious tolerance, and he established the document called the Patent of Tolerance. This report declared that protestant religions or Greeks could now worship and believe in what they believed in freely. There was now religious freedom for non-catholic Christians. Jews were allowed religious freedom to a certain point because they were far more restricted and had special rules that applied only to them. -
Edict of Tolerance
Joseph enacted the Edict of Tolerance which was a law that allowed Jews to be engaged in their religious practices. However, these religious practices did have to be private. This act ensured the rights of the Jews in this Austrian empire. -
Jews are given more rights by Joseph II
A year after the Edict of Tolerance was passed on, Emperor Joseph II issued the Systematic regulation of the Jews, which gave Jews more rights. Before this act, Jews had limited rights and weren't allowed to work in a particular profession, or they weren't able to rent land. If a Jew wanted to be a craftsman or if they didn't wear special clothing, it would now be okay, Special laws no longer applied to them and they were now under the same general law as everyone else. -
Joseph unsuccessfully attempts to make an exchange
Joseph tried to acquire Bavaria. He had tried to acquire Bavaria before, and this time he was doing it in exchange for the Austrian Netherlands. He wanted to secure the passage to the sea for the Austrian Netherlands. However, Frederick II of Prussia did not allow it and managed to block the scheme once more. -
A weak army
To counter Prussia's strength, Joseph created an alliance with Catherine II of Russia. When Catherine brought on war sooner than expected on to turkey, it did not go well because of Joseph's weak and unprepared army. Additionally, Joseph made enemies with Turkey. This alliance was unsuccessful as well and it opened the door for more unrest in the Austrian empire. -
The Robot was abolished
Joseph wanted to reform the system of the “Robot”, which was a system where peasants paid their debts to nobles. Sometimes what was paid wasn’t accurately counted and the nobles would keep the money in order to escape taxation. Joseph was able to do away with the craft restrictive guilds and created a reform that allowed an economic advantage for peasants.This made many more enemies for Joseph. Joseph eventually abolished the robot entirely by 1789. -
The death of Emperor Joseph II
Joseph II died all alone on his deathbed. He had made a lot of enemies with all of the liberal reforms he created. His brother, Leopold, who would eventually be his successor, wasn’t even with him in his death. He died at the age 48.
